WWE/TNA Lawsuit: How Matt Morgan's TNA Return Shows Where It Stands Right Now

Matt Morgan spent the last few months hinting what his wrestling future might hold, with teases that he might end up in ROH, back in TNA or return to the WWE.

It ultimately turned out to be one big work on the part of Morgan, however, as he “invaded” a TNA house show a couple of weeks ago and essentially proved that he had been re-signed with the company for quite some time.

News of Morgan’s TNA return did surprise some wrestling fans, though, who thought that his absence from TNA TV and constant Twitter teases meant that he was WWE-bound.

After all, WrestlingInc.com had reported after his TNA departure that the WWE was “absolutely interested” in bringing Morgan—who had previously competed with the company from 2003 to 2005—back.

There was a time when I, too, thought that Morgan would be going back to the WWE, but when he showed up in TNA not too long ago, it wasn’t really much of a shock.

Why? Because of TNA’s ongoing lawsuit against the WWE.

As we’re all well aware of by now, TNA and the WWE are currently engaged in what will surely be a lengthy legal process after TNA filed a lawsuit against the WWE earlier this year, alleging that former TNA employee Brian Wittenstein was relaying protected contract information to those within Vince McMahon’s company.

The process is still ongoing and is likely far from settled. It’s also probably the main reason why Morgan is back with TNA instead of the WWE.

After all, the complicated legal situation between the WWE and TNA has reportedly resulted in the WWE avoiding any talent that has recently parted ways with TNA.

According to F4WOnline.com (via WrestlingInc.com), “Vince McMahon's company is steering clear of any and all recently affiliated TNA Wrestling talent while the two grappling organizations do battle in court.”

Obviously, this is a smart move by the WWE.

If Alex Shelley showed up on SmackDown next week or Velvet Sky showed up on Raw right after she was let go by TNA, just think about how bad that would look for the WWE. The company could argue all it wants that it did not “tamper” with TNA stars while they were still under contract with TNA, but signing even one TNA name would at least make it appear as if this wasn’t true.

But if the WWE avoids any and all former TNA stars until all court matters are settled, then it’s going to be much more difficult for TNA to prove that the WWE was “stealing” its talent.

If the WWE really wanted to do that and had absolutely no worry about potential legal consequences, then chances are that Morgan never would have showed up at a TNA house show a couple of weeks ago.

He probably would have re-signed with the WWE and either already debuted on TV or be very close to doing so.

Heck, Shelley and Sky might have signed their WWE contracts already as well, and Ric Flair might already be the general manager of both Raw and SmackDown by now.

But the WWE is playing it really safe here and putting TNA in quite the pickle by reportedly making it known that they will “steer clear” of any TNA talent until this legal battle is over.

It’s the right decision for a WWE that has already has enough talent on its roster and, therefore, doesn’t need to invade the “competition” and risk losing millions of dollars in the process.

Stick with the talent you have until TNA’s lawsuit is firmly in the rearview mirror.

Drake Oz is a WWE Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter!